by Sid L.

It was very interesting to have three Spec Boxsters mix in with our starting grid.  Definitely made it more challenging during our start because it put us in different starting positions.  My goal was to try and get ahead of the Boxster next to me through turn 2 but as i hit turn 2, I was side by side and the extra power from the Boxster shined and I fell behind him before turn 3.  Coming up on turn 7, I took the line right behind the 944 leader but misjudged the braking capabilities of Steve as he took me on the inside of 7 and passed me like I was standing still.  

Just had to try and keep up with the leaders and was doing pretty well through more than half of the race.  Steve showed his skills by following a faster 911 into turn 11 as Rick was giving up his line to a faster car and was able to take the lead.  

The chase was on and Rick was not going to just sit back and relax.  I had a great seat watching the action.  Both guys were pushing each other faster and faster and eventually started to pull away from me when faster traffic got between us.  Somewhere near the end of the race, Steve almost lost it in turn 8 and Rick took advantage of his mistake and regained the lead and finished just slightly ahead of Steve.  

They had a really good race leaving me 6 seconds behind as a spectator at the finish.  

By Sid L.

On Sunday, the weather was much hotter and without a cool suit, I knew I was going to be testing my mental focus.  I qualified 3rd but had to start in the 3rd row because there was a Spec Boxster in row 1 and row 2.  There was some confusion on my part as the pole setter can choose either the inside or outside position but the rest of the field had to keep to the traditional positions.  I got confused and actually started on the outside but when I realized my mistake, we were too close to starting and couldn't reverse it.  Took the green flag and raced through turn 1 into the tight turn 2 which I managed to get past Cameron who was on my left.  Jerry took advantage of Cameron's bad position and squeezed by him sticking to my bumper.  We were all pushing hard and I kept Rick within my sights but noticed Steve just slowly pulling away from Rick. Had to keep track of the traffic behind me and was pushed hard by Jerry and Cameron. 

Eventually when faster traffic caught me, I was able to pull ahead of Jerry and surprisingly, still have Rick within a few car lengths ahead of me.  I was concentrating so hard on keeping up with Rick that I forgot about how hot it was and that my tires were starting to lose its grip.  I usually feel pretty confident going through turn 10 which some would say is the most dangerous turn at Infineon because of all the walls.  I had a lapse of judgement probably due to fatigue and missed the turn in and the car just wouldn't turn.   I knew I was way off the apex and was going to go plow the fields so I just told myself to drive through it.  I was so lucky to not get into a uncontrollable spin and hit a wall but managed to get my car to a dust cloud stop.  As soon as I gathered myself, I saw Jerry and Cameron fly by so I jumped right back on track.  I was able to catch up to them and going into turn 4, Jerry made a mistake and gave Cameron and me a chance to bunch up as we all went through turn 6.  I felt like I had a good run out of 6 and was able to get along side of Cameron on the right but Jerry moved over to the right just before the turn and braked hard and I just couldn't stop as fast due to my overweight car so I locked the tires up and was so lucky to not hit Jerry and managed to squeeze between them two and ended up spinning and stopped facing the oncoming traffic.  Jerry made a great defensive move and got around 7 smoothly while Cameron showed his skills by controlling his car and driving around my spin.  I was untouched and so thankful. 

Once I was clear, I turned the car around and continued my chase but was way too far behind them so I just had to finish the race in 5th and lick my wounds.  Luckily the wounds were not physical to my car but just mental in my head.  Hopefully this will never happen again and the first thing I am going to do is to get rid of my 5 year old unshaven RA1 tires that I have been using for every track and race event since 2005 .  I don't know how many heat cycles (>120) have gone through these tires but they were the fastest when 4 grooves were barely showing.  Now that there is only 2 grooves showing, they feel much more greasy and unstable.  Maybe it is due to the really hot weather but it is definitely time for new tires and lose more weight.

Congratulations to all the winners and all the driver's who turned their personal best lap times either in qualifying or the race.